The conception of the Journal of the Whills dates back to the earliest drafts of the Star Wars franchise, in which filmmaker George Lucas had intended to use the Journal as a plot device for connecting the Star Warsgalaxy to the real world.[2] While this idea was ultimately dropped, the Journal was mentioned in several Star Wars sources such as the novelization of the original film, which like the novelization of The Force Awakens, was written by Alan Dean Foster.[3][1] The Journal of the Whills was first made canon by the novelization of The Force Awakens, which opens with a quotation from the journal.[1]